Throughout the day, Morgan and Reynolds continued their scrap, Morgan winning six of the Leg 2 stages to Reynolds’ four, with Steve Fleck and Steve Palmer the next contenders in the class. The Group N battle was between Guy Anderson, Paul Alexander and Will Nicholls, and Justin Dale was doing just enough to keep Champion at bay in the 1600 category. Thankfully, disruption from falling trees and branches was remarkably limited, which was surprising really, with reports of general weather-related chaos coming in from other parts of the country. In fact, the gods were smiling, because by early afternoon the wind had died down somewhat and the skies cleared.
There was the usual sting in the tail at the end. The unfortunate Ryan Champion had a drive-shaft break on the last stage, putting him out of the results; Paul Alexander lost a wheel and crashed out of the top five; and Guy Anderson, the apparently clear Group N winner, was excluded by the stewards for having an illegal part fitted to his turbocharger manifold. More fortunate were James Thompson, who finished in a creditable eighth overall, and Mick Linford in sixteenth, two places ahead of Tony Jardine. Leading Peugeot Super Cup driver was Shaun Gallagher in an excellent ninth overall, although Gary Jennings had amassed enough points to take the title. Jonathon Wigmore, Darren Snape, and Roger Andersson were the winners of the Ford Ka, Puma and Volkswagen Polo one-make series respectively.
So, as the crews returned to the Potters International Hotel for the prize-giving ceremony, it was time to reflect on the close of another British Rally Championship season. The general opinion is that Mark Taylor and ABIRO have done an excellent job of ‘rescuing’ the Championship from the disasters of last year.
For next year there will be a new partnership between ABIRO Limited and International Motor Sports Limited. The 2003 regulations will be published shortly, and the BRC can now look forward to 2003 with much optimism and enthusiasm.
For more on the 2002 Pirelli British Rally Championship go to: www.brcweb.co.uk
![Tempest Stages Rally winners Phil Morgan and co-driver Martin Douglas [Subaru Impreza WRC]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/45148.jpg )
